It has been a weekend to forget for the Belfast Giants.
Adam Keefe’s were rocked by two defeats against Coventry Blaze in Belfast and Nottingham Panthers on the road.
After a solid start to the season for the Belfast side, the wave positivity came crashing down with a 6-4 defeat to Coventry Blaze on home ice on Saturday evening.
Things went from bad to worse the following night as the Giants were on the end of a 5-1 hammering courtesy of Nottingham Panthers at the Motorpoint Arena on Sunday night.
The Giants - who are targeting all three possible trophies this season - cannot let this weekend’s slip up turn into a skid given the increasingly competitive nature of the Elite League.
A back-and-forth game on Saturday night ended in frustration for the Giants.
Early strikes from Pierre-Olivier Morin and Ben Lake gave the hosts a two goal advantage.
Despite Coventry hitting back with Chase Groseck pouncing on a loose puck to slot past goalie Tom McCollum, the Giants soon restored their two goal advantage with Scott Conway rifling a shot high into the net.
Things went wrong for the Giants around the half hour mark, with the visitors striking through Alessio Luciani, Zach Heintz and Brandon Alderson in a 17 minute period to put Blaze ahead for the first time in the game.
Scott Conway scored his second to equalise however Nick Seitz added the winner for Coventry with only four minutes to go and Luciani added the icing to the cake, sliding home an empty netter to seal the win.
Speaking after the Coventry game, Giants head coach lamented his side’s uncharacteristic home loss.
“We had a great first period up until that last goal against,” Keefe said.
“We did some things in that last goal against which are the reason why we’re in the situation we’re in.
“We don’t have the championship details or compete level to do the right things right now. It’s sinking us.
“We’re a good hockey team and we proved that in the first period in particular and with the ability to come back once they went ahead. We have some really good hockey players in that room but Coventry were the better team so they win.”
A tough evening in Nottingham followed on Sunday evening, with the Giants staying within touching distance until the final 10 minutes during which a capitulation left them with a 5-1 defeat.
Nottingham opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from Hugo Roy and Kristoff Kontos doubled their advantage in the first period.
Ben Lake finished from Josh Roach’s incisive assist to reduce the deficit just after the half hour mark.
However, it was in the final stages of the game that Nottingham pulled away, capitalising on their powerplay opportunities to sink the Giants with two further goals from Tim Doherty and Samuel Herr.
Adam Keefe pulled the goalie in an attempt to salvage the game in the dying moments but Reid Stefanson slid in an empty netter to add insult to injury on a tough night for the Belfast side.
The Giants will have to dust themselves off, regroup and get back to the drawing board as they prepare to face Guildford Flames on Saturday and have an opportunity at redemption on Sunday evening as they face Coventry on the road.
